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General Information about Paleogene Outcrops of the Atlantic Coastal Plain
We will be visiting the Paleocene Outcrops of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
All outcrops on this field trip are located in creek beds and water levels can reach up to your knees (or higher in some cases). It is highly recommended that waterproof boots or wellies be used. We will have only a very limited number of extra boots and/or hip waders available.
Please be aware that since this field trip will be run in August, we may encounter poison ivy and possibly ticks (which can carry Lyme Disease). Additionally, yellow jackets can live in ground nests near creek beds and are aggressive at this time of year. If you are allergic to bee stings, please make sure you have an epipen!!
We will be staying overnight at a hotel in Reston, VA, on Friday night before driving the next morning to Richmond, VA (2 hours). Participants will be sharing rooms (2 to a room). Lunches will be provided on both Friday and Saturday.
The vans will be back in the DC region by 5pm. If you plan on flying home that evening, please make sure you have a late departure as both Dulles (IAD) and Reagan-National (DCA) airports can have long security lines and usually require 3 hours. We can drop off participants flying out of Dulles Airport at the airport on the way home. For those using DCA, we can drop you off at a Metro station, and you can take a train to the airport. We do not recommend using Baltimore-Washington (BWI) airport, as we cannot get you to that location. Please allow plenty of time and consider leaving on Sunday morning! We cannot absolutely guarantee the vans will be back on time for you to make your flight, as traffic on the I-95 corridor can be very congested.
Max. participants: 20
Paleocene Aquia Formation, Tinker's Creek , Maryland
Paleocene Aquia Formation, Tinker's Creek , Maryland
Friday August 7th
We will visit two sites in Prince George’s County (Maryland) to look at Paleocene sediments of the Danian Brightseat Formation and Selandian-Thanetian Aquia Formation. The site locations will be Cappy Avenue/Cabin Branch for the Brightseat Formation and the Selandian Aquia Formation, and Tinkers Creek for the Thanetian Aquia Formation (please download the attached PDF here). These sediments represent the run-up to the PETM in the Salisbury Embayment of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Sampling of sediments and fossils is allowed at Cappy Avenue/Cabin Branch without restrictions. Sampling of fossils at Tinkers Creek, which is part of the M-NCPPC, Department of Parks and Recreation, is limited to isolated fossils that have eroded out of the creek banks and M-NCPCC has the right to retain any important fossils for curation in their paleontology collection. If you are interested in conducting research on materials from Tinkers Creek you can contact Victor Perez at Victor.Perez@pgparks.com for information on getting a permit.
Saturday August 8th
We will visit the Gillie’s Creek locality near Richmond (Virginia) to look at the lower Eocene Marlboro Clay and the overlying Nanjemoy Formation. The Marlboro Clay contains the CIE of the PETM and is represented by approximately 5 m of sediments at this site. This site is somewhat unusual in that the Marlboro Clay contains 1-2 m of laminated beds just below the contact with the Nanjemoy Formation. The contact itself is highly burrowed and contorted. The overlying Nanjemoy Formation represents the recovery section of the PETM and is approximately 3 m thick. Sampling at Gillie’s Creek is not restricted.
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